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1000 miles of torture


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So my S2000 is sold ( *sniff sniff* ) and I have 800 miles on the GT sedan. Short shifting at 4000 rpm is driving me crazy! My 1000 miles of torture are almost over! Can't frickin wait! Little things I have noticed: The brakes dust like mad. I need to wash it, but the car is only a little dirty while the front wheels are COVERED in brake dust. Hopefully this is just break-in dusting... The right front speaker buzzes, or its the plastic. I didn't get the sub (i listened to the sub in a GT Limited and its crap in my opinion) and with the bass set to just +1 the right side is annoyingly buzzing. I'll have to have that looked at. And add a sub in the trunk asap. At idle there occasionally is a roughness that is felt as a side to side motion. Is this normal for a Boxer engine? Usually I notice it after gettting off the freeway and coming to a stop light. It's so smooth otherwise that this little wiggle stands out. Driving experience: Its fast. Faster in city traffic than the S2000 even when short shifting. Driving the S2000 after a few days of driving the GT made the S2000 feel broken in power. Like the AC was on, the ecu was cutting power and I was towing a boat anchor. Heh. Me likes Turbo! Nicely Balanced: While obeying the 4000 rpm break in limit, I have had only a few chances to push it in corners. Powering thru a corner, the chassis is stable and balanced with only a hint of understeer. In fact I have gotten the tail to slide just a wee bit in a 2nd gear corner which was very satisfying. I think with a little toe out on the rear, the car would feel perfect. I'll wait till I get springs, tires and wheels before I mess with alignment though. Heal and Toe-ing is hard because the engine is so quiet. You can't hear it below 5000 rpms really, so its almost impossible to do without staring at the tach while obeying the 4000 rpm break in limit. And if you can stare at the tach, then you can't really be doing anything that necessitates a heal-toe rev match. After the break in I'll have to work on this. Questions: Are WRX and Legacy Shocks/Springs interchange-able? What are some other Subaru forums for gleaning info about performance tuning and suspension?
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I've noticed the brake dust too. It's a lot more noticeable than with any other Subaru I've driven. Perhaps Subaru went with a softer pad, I don't know. Luckily, the GT rims are easy to clean. The side to side motion is characteristic of the boxer engine. It comes and goes and should be faint. Ken
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Wow, you kept fully to break-in, I will give you a lot of credit for that. I'm not sure how many others of us have been able to fully adhere to that or have been trying various other break-in methods. Parts won't be interchangeable. It's almost an entirely new package. I think generally when they go over the vehicles, it's about a 20% revised model. This was about 80%. That's really significant! At least the changes really have seemed to pay off.
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I didn't think it was possible to keep a car under 4k for the entire 1k miles. I have gone up to 5k rpm several times recently (around the 700 mile mark). Not to mention who knows what the people did that test drove the car for the 30 miles that it had on it.
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haha, i have hit 5k in first gear only a couple times. its hard not too since it accells so FAST in first gear. Also the load on the engine is the lowerst in first gear, so its the least stress on the engine. my car had 14 miles on it when i test drove it. the back lot is 6 miles away from the dealers main lot. I put 5 or 6 on it during the test drive. I knew there was probably buying it, so i baby'd it on the test drive. I can't prove it, but im pretty sure its been treated very nicely so far. hrmm... i have hit 4k rpms in 5th gear a few times...
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I had the same observations. At 600 miles i've already cleaned the Rims twice, but as stated they are very easy to clean. I have the same annoying rattle coming from the doors It happens way before the Amplifier would be clipping, so it is not from the speakers themselves, but from something in the door. I only made it to 600 miles or so before I lost self control, but honestly, unlike my civic si, there is no need to go to red line to have fun in this car.
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The brake dust could be contributed to a few things. The brake pads are now been made out of a more friendly compound and hence give off a lot more dust. The dust will be a lot more noticable during the bedding in process but should fade gradually. You may also notice a bit more brake noise too becasue of this compound. Ensure that you spray the caliper when washing yr car to get rid of the excess brake dust, this will help alot. Once the pads are worn, have a look at replacing the pads for a harder compound or even a race brake pad that may be harder again.
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Man, now I feel bad for driving my car a little hard the first day. I agree it's hard to let off the throttle when the turbo is whinning so smoothly. I'll be more gentle from now on. I've always been of the opinion that break-in should expose the engine to the full range of rpm, just not an extended period at a certain rpm.
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I can't think of a good reason why anyone has to wait until 1000 miles elapses. Something to think about: why is it that at 999.9 miles on the odometer, you are allowed a max of 4000 rpm, but at 1000.1 miles on the odometer, you are suddenly and magically allowed to spin up to 6500 rpm? If your engine runs 3 hours at an average of 2800 rpm, it will have completed 504,000 crankshaft rotations. That should accomplish some significant break in. In that same time frame, the turbo will have probably exceeded a total of 1,000,000 revolutions.
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Im not sure u would take the 4K for 1000 as gospel, I think its a good guide and makes ppl think about what damage could be done if they just rip. Agree with yr caculations although if anything is going to go wrong, it would usually be during the bed in period and if it was to go wrong, well the best way to limit that would be to drive progressively until yr first service period which is around the 1k mark. If you dont already have yr car, when you get it, please let us know what breakin method was as Im sure we would all b very keen to know.....
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Reborne- Congrats.. I came from a RX8 to my Legacy GT and the power delivery is about the same in the S2000. I was wondering if you felt weird shifting at such a low RPM... We both had 9k redlines..and we would both have to use the uper RPMS to get power from out engines. I have noticed my GT hates to run higher than 4k anyway. In my RX I would usualy keep it up at 6 or 7 rpm. The GT doesn't like that. So that took a little getting used to. But, I do love my low end grunt! Oh, and for some reason I find heal toe in the GT very hard. I have big feet and the spacing between the break and the accelorator is a bit to close... For heal toe..that normaly a good thing..but I have issues. So I usualy just keep to rev matching my down shifts... :( Mabey new peddles would help me !
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When I picked my car up July 2nd it had 149 miles on it. They had to deliver it from another dealer. I kind of kept it out of along wide open throttle for the first few miles. I don't believe the 4000 rpm rule is good for the engine. I have been driving for a lot of years. I break in a car the way I'm going to drive it. People who have riden in my cars years later, who have the same car, say mine feels a bit more powerful. I try not the beat the snot out of it for the first few miles. But I use the full rpm band. Mine has 2500 miles and I have already changed the oil and will again at 4000 miles. Then may be I'll go to a 4000 mile oil change schedule. I have not noticed any issue with heal and toe, I have size 9 1/2 feet.

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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I know it's called heal and toe, but I find it is realy more big toe and ball of foot on brake and side of foot on gas. Right?

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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[quote name='Max Capacity']I break in a car the way I'm going to drive it. People who have riden in my cars years later, who have the same car, say mine feels a bit more powerful. I try not the beat the snot out of it for the first few miles. But I use the full rpm band. [/quote] How's your gas mileage after using this break-in method?
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[quote name='Max Capacity']I know it's called heal and toe, but I find it is realy more big toe and ball of foot on brake and side of foot on gas. Right?[/quote] Yeah, cuz you have to have be easy with the amount of break that you apply..and blip the throttle at the same time. Hence the name.
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[quote name='Legacy_Fan'][quote name='Max Capacity']I break in a car the way I'm going to drive it. People who have riden in my cars years later, who have the same car, say mine feels a bit more powerful. I try not the beat the snot out of it for the first few miles. But I use the full rpm band. [/quote] How's your gas mileage after using this break-in method?[/quote] I break mine in like that too. I'm getting 20-21mpg, mostly around town.
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[quote name='outahere']I can't think of a good reason why anyone has to wait until 1000 miles elapses. Something to think about: why is it that at 999.9 miles on the odometer, you are allowed a max of 4000 rpm, but at 1000.1 miles on the odometer, you are suddenly and magically allowed to spin up to 6500 rpm? [/quote] The below 4000RPM for the first 1000 miles mentioned in the owner's manual is clearly a simple rule of thumb to work for a wide range of customers. Overboost.com has a much more progressive break-in schedule that makes sense, but imagine how frustrated the "average" owner would be if they saw such a tiered and detailed process that they had to follow for breaking in their engine properly? Ken
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I believe in the break in theory that you increase redline a little at a time over a 500-1000 mile period. Ie, max of 4000 rpm for first 250-500 miles, then 5000 rpm for next milage set, 6000 rpm, and finally redline. I also beleive that the lower gears, 1st and 2nd are the only gears you should explore the higher rpms during break in, as the load on the engine is greatly reduced due to the gearing. My 35 mile commute in LA gives me everything from 5 mph creeping, to 65-85 mph blasts around idiots. I did a good job keeping it under 4k, although not perfect. ocassionaly on ramp shifts happened at 5k. But I've only had the car 2 weeks, and today I am at 955 miles. And yes, I see the sillyness in 4000 max at 995miles and 6500 at 1005 miles. I guess in some odd way I have found it fun. One of the main reason for doing it to me, seems to be to give the clutch a good slow break in, instead of 6500 rpm, hi energy shifts. And as B4_Maniac mentioned, coming out of a high rpm car like the S2000, this was good re-training for my brain, foot and ears. After two weeks of shifting at 4k, reving to 6500 is going to be glorious. In the S2000, there isn't even a hint of glory until 6000, and living-life-to-its-fullest is all about 9000 rpm redline shifts. Looking at the milage on the car now... and my commute home tonight, there is a good chance I'll drive right past my exit, and pick up the phone: Honey, I think I'm gonna be late, don't wait up for me.....
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